The Amiga 1000 computer, released by Commodore in 1985, required a bootable floppy disk named "Kickstart", which was used to load basic operating system functionality before continuing the boot process from additional disks. This initial boot code would normally have been stored on a ROM chip, allowing for a simpler user experience and less expensive components, but the development team needed more time to finish the software while the hardware had already gone into production. After the Amiga 1000 (A1000), e.g. on models such as the Amiga 500 (A500) and Amiga 2000 (A2000), this functionality was indeed moved to ROM. Even as new ROM versions were released (from v. 1.x to v. 3.x), the "Kickstart" name remained popular to refer to what would be more accurately referred to as the "Amiga ROM", or the ROM-resident part of the operating system. As PCs became more popular, the name "Amiga BIOS" could also be found, although the name "BIOS" was never used by Commodore/Amiga systems.

Amiga Kickstart ROM Files and Amiga Emulators

On many emulation systems, "ROM" is the word used to refer to games. Not so on the Amiga, where a "ROM" is the original "Kickstart" operating system code as released by Commodore-Amiga in the 1980s and early 1990s. Amiga games are commonly referred to as RP9s or ADFs (if you are looking for a specific Amiga game, try and search for the game title followed by "RP9" or "ADF").

Broadly speaking, there are two categories of Amiga emulators: those that aim to emulate the Amiga API (operating system functions), such as the AROS project, and those that aim to emulate the hardware at the lowest possible level, such as the UAE and Fellow projects. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages: AROS aimed to be legally unencumbered from the beginning, but never tried to be compatible at the hardware level, while UAE and Fellow are more compatible with the original hardware, but they depend on the original Kickstart ROMs, which are not freely distributable. A hybrid approach (being worked on, but not yet available) would probably bring the best of both worlds, i.e. maximum compatibility for software that "bangs the hardware", as was common in the Amiga days, and a ROM replacement that is completely independent of third-party claims, while also being possibly faster than the original.

In addition to the ROM (the "Kickstart"), all Amiga systems require a set of operating system files (named "Workbench" in Cloanto's Amiga Forever) in order to function. A "Kickstart ROM" or "Kick ROM" alone is not enough to boot into a functioning system, although some games and demos come on disks which include minimal operating system (or OS-replacement) functionality. The CDTV and CD³² also require a second ROM (called the "Extended ROM").

Cloanto's Amiga Forever

If you are reading this page, you are probably interested in the best possible way to easily run thousands of Amiga games, which are now available from legal download sites. In this case, one would have to mention the Amiga Forever package from Cloanto, which not only tightly integrates with (Win)UAE, (Win)Fellow and AROS, but also includes games, demoscene productions, a search-engine and database, auto-updates, and a lot more. While you might be able to find the individual files online, configuring the emulation is not a simple task, and Amiga Forever makes running a game (or an original Amiga system configuration) as simple as a mouse click, while also helping you find and run more games, and keep the various emulation components up to date.

Cloanto has been an Amiga developer since 1986, and has publicly endorsed both AROS as a Kickstart replacement and a more open approach to the original Kickstart ROMs.. At the same time, Cloanto is licensed to include the original Kickstart ROMs and other OS files in Amiga Forever, and they even had a license to the Amiga patents, which helped keep Amiga emulation legal in difficult years (the topic was quite debated in the late 1990s). By supporting Amiga Forever you not only get a quality package, but you support the ongoing efforts of a long-time Amiga friend and contribute to the growth of legal Amiga emulation efforts.

Downloading Amiga "Kickstart ROMs"

If you are wondering "Where can I find a Kickstart ROM?", the short answer is Amiga Forever. Different ROMs which are required for the Amiga emulation environment to boot into a functional operating system and then play games and run other Amiga software are included and preinstalled in Amiga Forever for Windows.

We have an agreement with TrialPay to offer you the Value Edition of Amiga Forever for Windows for free, if you order it together with something else. TrialPay offers a wide choice of goods and services, from red roses to blue jeans, from Blockbuster and Disney movies to subscriptions to The Economist and The Wall Street Journal, from credit reports to TicketsNow.com events.

Amiga "Kickstart ROMs" for Android

On Android systems, Amiga Forever Essentials for Android installs officially licensed Amiga ROMs and some additional disk images in a way that is autodetected by Amiga emulator apps for Android (e.g. UAE4Droid, AnUAE4All, UAE4All2, Omega 500). These are the 512 KB system ROM files (256 KB ROMs won't work on many mobile emulators) to run Amiga OS versions 1.2, 1.3, 2.04, 3.0 and 3.1 in emulated computers like the Amiga 500 and Amiga 1200. So if you are searching for "Amiga 500 Kickstart 1.3" or "kick.rom" or "kick13.rom", or for a ROM with MD5 hash 192d6d950d0ed3df8040b788502831c2, Amiga Forever Essentials for Android is the answer that is both legal and easy to use, as it requires no manual configuration work.

Different Versions of Amiga Forever

Amiga Forever comes in different versions:

Express Edition - A free download for Windows that can play back a lot of Amiga content

Value Edition - A basic commercial package for Windows, which not only supports the Express Edition content, but also provides unlimited access to all Amiga games and applications that run on the 1.3 ROM and operating system (i.e. about 75% of games)

Plus Edition - Includes additional preinstalled content, support for all ROM and OS versions ever released by Commodore-Amiga (1.x to 3.x, including support for WHDLoad, AmiKit and AmigaSYS), other items of historical interest, and non-Windows software (e.g. KX-Light)

Premium Edition - Same content as the Plus Edition, plus two DVDs featuring more than five hours of video footage